Unemployment in the Chattanooga area fell during February to the lowest level since before the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the economy last spring.
The jobless rate in the 6-county Chattanooga area fell in February by another 0.5 percentage points to 4.1%. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Chattanooga’s jobless rate was the second lowest among the state’s metropolitan areas, behind only the 4.0% rate in metro Nashville. The unemployment rate in Chattanooga, which was lowest in the north Georgia counties included in metro Chattanooga, was nearly a third less than the 6.2% U.S. jobless rate for the month.
Since last April when unemployment jumped to 13.2% in Chattanooga when many restaurants, stores, hotels and other businesses shut down to limit the spread of the coronavirus, employers in metro Chattanooga have added back a net 22,251 jobs, according to government job estimates.
Nonetheless, employment in the Chattanooga area still remains 8,903 jobs, or 3.3%, below the employment level of a year earlier.
Jobless in February
The unemployment rate fell in all counties across Southeast Tennessee during February:* Bledsoe County – 7.0%, down from 7.6% % in January* Bradley County – 4.7%, down from 5.2% in January* Coffee County – 4.6%, down from 4.7% in January* Franklin County – 4.5%, down from 4.7% in January* Grundy County – 6.3%, down from 6.9% in January* Hamilton County – 4.5%, down from 5.1% in January* Marion County – 5.1%, down from 5.6% in January* McMinn County – 5.0%, down from 5.2% in January* Meigs County – 6.3%, down from 6.8% in January* Polk County – 5.0%, down from 5.2% in January* Rhea County – 6.3%, down from 7.2% in January* Sequatchie County – 5.4%, down from 5.9% in January* Van Buren County – 5.8%, down from 6.4% in JanuarySource: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Statewide, unemployment dropped to 4.9% in February, down 0.2 of a percentage point from the previous month. Unemployment also decreased across the United States, dropping by 0.1 percentage points in February to 6.2%. The March national jobless rate will be reported Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Among Tennessee’s 95 counties, the jobless rate declined in February in 90 counties and the unemployment rate was below 5% in 39 of the state’s counties.
Williamson County continued to have the state’s lowest jobless rate in February at 3.1%, down 0.1 of a percentage point from January.
At 8.6%, Lake County had Tennessee’s highest unemployment rate in February, which was a 0.3 of a percentage point increase from January.
Even with employment down from a year ago, Tennessee’s career centers reported Thursday 215,000 job openings across the state.
– Compiled by Dave Flesssner who may be reached at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.